Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. Invests $316,000 in The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX)

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. purchased a new position in shares of The Clorox Company (NYSE:CLX) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CLX. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 163.8% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 153 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Clorox by 300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 184 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Clorox during the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 78.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $130.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Clorox in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of Clorox from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Clorox from $171.00 to $169.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Clorox from $157.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $159.62.

Clorox Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE:CLX opened at $147.32 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $154.20 and its 200-day moving average is $160.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.52, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.94. The Clorox Company has a 52 week low of $127.60 and a 52 week high of $171.37. The firm has a market cap of $18.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45.

Clorox (NYSE:CLX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.16. Clorox had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 316.87%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Clorox Company will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Clorox Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 23rd will be paid a $1.22 dividend. This represents a $4.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 23rd. Clorox’s dividend payout ratio is currently 133.33%.

Clorox Profile

The Clorox Company manufactures and markets consumer and professional products worldwide. It operates through four segments: Health and Wellness, Household, Lifestyle, and International. The Health and Wellness segment offers cleaning products, such as laundry additives and home care products primarily under the Clorox, Clorox2, Scentiva, Pine-Sol, Liquid-Plumr, Tilex, and Formula 409 brands; professional cleaning and disinfecting products under the CloroxPro and Clorox Healthcare brands; professional food service products under the Hidden Valley brand; and vitamins, minerals and supplement products under the RenewLife, Natural Vitality, NeoCell, and Rainbow Light brands in the United States.